'BLOOD DRIP FROM BODY'
- By Nick Nunziata
- Published 03/9/2007
- News
As many of you know, I'm a weird guy. Not weird in the "I like to bend a kid over" way but in a "man, he surprised me that he owns all the books in the Manitou series" or a "I didn't expect a guy who runs a geek website to be so into playing and following baseball" sort of way. A similiar weirdness must have been at play when, after a chance meeting with a man named Daniel Jevons led to a quick and wonderful friendship led to a conversation where I was asked what video game property most excited me for the purposes of creating a feature film."Jagged Alliance", I said. Without a hesitation.
Fast forward almost a year of discussions, treatment scripts, and a lot of paperwork and the following press release hits the world:
Strategy First Partners with Union Entertainment to Develop The Jagged Alliance Feature Film!
Nick Nunziata Signed To Develop and Produce Movie
MONTREAL, March 8, 2007. -- Software publisher Strategy First Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstar Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSTR), has partnered with Los Angeles-based video game and film production company, Union Entertainment, to adapt Strategy First’s hit video game franchise “Jagged Alliance” into a feature film. Union and Strategy First have signed on Nick Nunziata (Grizzly Park, Meg) to help develop and co-produce the project.The original “Jagged Alliance” game was released in 1994 and has spawned five sequels, with another currently under development at Strategy First.
The project’s title, “Jagged Alliance”, describes the cutthroat relationships between members of a lethal mercenary team whose only true allegiance is to the highest bidder. Each a specialist in his or her own discipline, these operatives know that in order to survive their missions, they must rely on, but never dare trust, each other. The team is assembled from the best of the best by the Alliance of International Mercenaries, an apolitical private organization with its own covert agenda.
“‘Jagged Alliance’ is high on character and action, but with a dark humor that fans relish,” says Union President Richard Leibowitz. “‘Jagged Alliance’ has a solid premise, and its character-driven game story makes it much better suited to film adaptation than many other game properties. Those elements are key to successful game-to-film translations.”
“Jagged Alliance is a great game franchise with dynamic characters and personalities that belong on the silver screen. This project is a brilliant take on the property and we anticipate a truly original picture coming out of this series.” says Emanuel Wall, Strategy First’s Business Development Manager.
ABOUT UNION ENTERTAINMENT
Union Entertainment is the only talent management and production company specializing in video games today. Based in Hollywood, California, Union has been instrumental in designing, packaging, writing, developing and/or producing video games that have collectively amassed more than half-a-billion dollars at retail.
ABOUT NICK NUNZIATA
Nick Nunziata is Producer of the upcoming horror films, Grizzly Park and MEG for New Line Cinema. In the late ‘90's Nunziata launched CHUD.com which has become one of the Web’s most popular and reliable sites for film news, opinion, and discussion. The first CHUD.com movie, 11 Colonels ATTACK! is being prepared for a summer 2007 start date and Nunziata's KrakenHeads label is readying several comic books for early 2008.
ABOUT STRATEGY FIRST
Strategy First Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstar Holdings (Nasdaq: SSTR), is a leading developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment software for the PC. Founded in 1990, the Company is well known for its proprietary groundbreaking titles, such as the award winning Disciples, Jagged Alliance and Space Empires series of games, which are under continuing development. Simultaneously, Strategy First continues to publish many of the industry’s major titles, winning numerous awards for games such as “Hearts of Iron”, and “Galactic Civilizations.” Recent offerings include top releases such as “S.C.S. – Dangerous Waters™” and “Space Empires V.” The Company provides a unique alternative for independent developers seeking to market their games to a worldwide audience. www.strategyfirst.com
ABOUT SILVERSTAR HOLDINGS
Silverstar Holdings Ltd. is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: SSTR), focusing on acquiring controlling positions in high-growth retail-driven and fee-based electronic game businesses that stand to benefit from the economies of scale generated by the Internet and other technology-related platforms. It currently owns Empire Interactive PLC and Strategy First Inc. as well as a stake in Magnolia Broadband. Empire Interactive PLC is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software games such as Starsky & Hutch, Big Mutha Truckers, Ford Racing and FlatOut. Empire’s products are delivered on both console and PC platforms. Strategy First Inc. is a leading developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment software for the PC. Magnolia Broadband is a fabless semiconductor company and innovator of radio frequency (RF) solutions for the cellular industry.
Strategy First's Jagged Alliance series, primarily Jagged Alliance 2, has led to some of my most memorable and favorite moments as a gamer who's been doing it pretty hardcore since the dawn of the medium. The design, humor, strategy, combat, and overall tone of the game was unique and lends itself greatly to film. The thing that excites me most about it is that it's totally character driven and an ensemble very much in tune with stuff from the late 60's, early 70's, and a few choice entries from the 80's. It's a really fun and loose and cynicism-free chance to tell a story about mercenaries. There's also a unique spin we're taking with how the story is told that I think will really click with an audience. No shit.
So, stay tuned. More to come...